Chapter 8 - His Brother Came Home With a Message for MeGabriel Falcone had disappeared from Rome six hours earlier.
His security detail was found unconscious.
His apartment had been searched.
Nothing stolen.
No ransom demand.
Mateo transformed.
I watched the man I loved become the man entire rooms feared.
Calls.
Orders.
Names.
Flights.
Contacts.
Within two hours, his study became a command center.
I stayed out of the way until I heard my name.
“Why would they want Elena?”
Luca.
Mateo answered.
“They don’t.”
I stepped into the room.
“Who doesn’t want me?”
Silence.
I folded my arms.
“We have discussed the silent-conversation problem.”
Mateo rubbed his forehead.
“Someone sent a message from Gabriel’s phone.”
“What message?”
He handed me the screen.
ONE CRUZ DESTROYED A GENERATION. WE WON’T LET ANOTHER DO THE SAME.
My stomach tightened.
“Rossi?”
“He’s in federal custody.”
“His people?”
“Maybe.”
“Or someone in your family.”
Mateo looked at me.
“Why would you say that?”
“Because my father’s ledger didn’t only expose Rossi.”
Luca nodded reluctantly.
“She’s right.”
Mateo glared at him.
“What?”
“She is.”
The ledger named three Falcone captains.
Two were dead.
One remained alive.
Antonio Falcone.
Mateo’s uncle.
Mateo went completely still.
“No.”
“Why not?” I asked.
“He raised Gabriel after my father died.”
“That doesn’t mean he’s innocent.”
“You don’t know Antonio.”
“No. But I knew Richard Lynn for two years and thought he was an annoying landlord.”
Mateo looked away.
Family loyalty.
I understood it.
But loyalty could become blindness.
Agent Reeves confirmed Antonio had boarded a private flight from New York to Italy the night Gabriel disappeared.
Mateo’s denial ended.
We flew to Rome.
It was my first trip to Italy.
Under different circumstances, I might have loved it immediately.
Instead, I spent the flight watching Mateo stare out the window.
“You okay?”
“No.”
At least he was honest.
“Tell me about Gabriel.”
Mateo smiled faintly.
“He hates violence.”
“Smart man.”
“He teaches history.”
I blinked.
“Your brother is a professor?”
“Yes.”
“That is not what I expected.”
“He left the family business at twenty-one.”
“And you let him?”
“He’s my brother, not my employee.”
That answer mattered.
“Does he know what you’re trying to do?”
“Yes.”
“Then maybe Antonio took him because Gabriel supports you.”
Mateo’s face hardened.
“Then Antonio made a mistake.”
We found Gabriel outside Florence.
Alive.
Antonio had not tortured him.
That somehow made everything stranger.
Gabriel was being held in a villa owned by the Falcone family.
We arrived before dawn.
Mateo entered alone.
I hated it.
But this was family.
Thirty minutes later, he emerged with Gabriel.
And Antonio.
Nobody was handcuffed.
Nobody was bleeding.
I stared.
“What happened?”
Gabriel hugged me before answering.
“You must be Elena.”
“Yes.”
“I’ve heard a disturbing amount about you.”
Mateo glared.
Gabriel smiled.
Then his expression became serious.
“Antonio didn’t kidnap me.”
“What?”
Antonio spoke.
“I removed him from Rome because someone inside Mateo’s security network was planning to kill him.”
Mateo looked furious.
“You could have called.”
“My communications were compromised.”
“Then you send a coded message, not something threatening Elena.”
“That message wasn’t mine.”
The room went silent.
Antonio placed a phone on the table.
“The message came after Gabriel was already with me.”
Mateo stared.
“Who sent it?”
“We traced the device.”
Antonio looked at Luca.
Luca’s face changed.
My stomach dropped.
“No.”
Mateo slowly turned.
Luca did not move.
“Tell me he’s wrong.”
Luca looked at the floor.
Mateo’s voice became quieter.
“Luca.”
The man who had protected me.
Followed me to work.
Sat outside my apartment.
Saved us during attacks.
Finally looked up.
“I’m sorry.”
Mateo stepped backward as if struck.
“Why?”
“My sister.”
Luca’s voice broke.
“Rossi had her.”
Nobody spoke.
“He took her eight months ago. Told me she’d die if I didn’t feed him information.”
“You could have told me.”
“I couldn’t risk her.”
“You thought I wouldn’t help?”
“I thought you’d go to war.”
“I would have.”
“That’s what I was afraid of.”
Mateo looked devastated.
Not angry.
Betrayed.
Luca continued.
“I gave him schedules. Locations. Nothing I thought would get you killed.”
“The apartment?”
“Yes.”
“You knew Elena was Daniel Cruz’s daughter?”
“Not at first.”
I felt sick.
“The camera?”
“No. Lynn handled that.”
“The man at my door?”
Luca closed his eyes.
“I told Rossi you’d treated Mateo’s wound.”
Mateo hit him.
One punch.
Luca fell.
Mateo stood over him.
I grabbed Mateo’s arm.
“Enough.”
“He sold you to Rossi.”
“For his sister.”
“That doesn’t excuse it.”
“No.”
Luca remained on the floor.
Blood ran from his lip.
“I deserve whatever you do.”
Mateo’s fist tightened.
I knew this moment mattered.
Not only for Luca.
For Mateo.
For us.
“Where is your sister?” I asked.
Luca looked at me.
“I don’t know.”
“Is Rossi still controlling someone outside prison?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
Luca hesitated.
Then gave us a name.
Vincent Moretti.
Mateo went pale.
“Who is that?” I asked.
Gabriel answered.
“Our cousin.”
Another family betrayal.
Mateo walked toward the window.
For a long time, nobody spoke.
Then he turned.
“We find Luca’s sister.”
Luca stared.
“Boss—”
“We find her.”
“And me?”
Mateo looked at him.
“You live with what you did.”
It was not forgiveness.
But it was not execution.
That night, Mateo and I stood on the villa balcony.
“You stopped,” I said.
“What?”
“You wanted to kill him.”
“Yes.”
“But you stopped.”
He looked toward the hills.
“Because you were watching.”
“That shouldn’t be the only reason.”
“It isn’t anymore.”
I touched his hand.
He intertwined his fingers with mine.
“I don’t know how to become someone else overnight,” he said.
“I’m not asking you to.”
“What are you asking?”
“To keep choosing.”
“Choosing what?”
“The man you want to be.”
He kissed my forehead.
Then Gabriel opened the balcony door.
“You need to see this.”
He handed Mateo a tablet.
Security footage.
A woman tied to a chair.
Luca’s sister.
Beside her stood Vincent Moretti.
He looked directly into the camera.
Then smiled.
“Bring Elena Cruz to New York.”
My blood went cold.
“And I’ll return what belongs to Luca.”
The video ended.
Mateo immediately said, “No.”
I looked at him.
“Mateo.”
“No.”
“You don’t even know what I’m going to say.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Then you know I’m going.”
His eyes flashed.
“Absolutely not.”
I stepped closer.
“You told me to choose.”
“This is different.”
“No.”
May you like
I looked at the blank screen.
“This is exactly the same.”
